New tools and approaches for improved management of inflammatory bowel diseases

Background and aimsInflammatory bowel diseases are part of a wider conglomeration of immune-mediated inflammatory diseases. New management approaches need to be developed as we understand more of the epidemiology and aetiology of inflammatory bowel diseases and medical care becomes more complex.MethodsSelected new tools and approaches for improved management of inflammatory bowel diseases are presented, based on published evidence and clinical experience.ResultsSetting quality of care standards that are consistent across different inflammatory bowel disease care settings will be paramount and require collaboration between specialist and non-specialist centres. Alongside this, the value of care will need to be evaluated in terms of maximising outcomes over the entire care cycle for a patient. In moving towards a value-based approach to management, it is important to determine the progression rate of the disease by measuring cumulative bowel damage. As well as understanding the course of disease in individual patients, it is also becoming more feasible to individualise therapy and exploit drug pharmacology to achieve better and more long-term responses. Finally, it is timely to consider formal collaborations between specialists in immune-mediated inflammatory diseases to ensure more cohesive patient care.ConclusionsThe potential for improved management of patients with inflammatory bowel diseases continues to increase as we look to understand when and how to intervene in the disease process and how to adopt a collaborative management approach that promotes networking and reduces heterogeneity of care across different care settings.